Victorious: TBA
by daddylonglegss
Summary: Continuation of Victorious: Later Days. A lot happens after Tori has Beck's baby, including a calling off the engagement, Jade falling in love with someone else, Tori catching her mother in an affair - and that's just to name a few problems. You have to read to find out all of the troubles Tori and everyone around her goes through. I don't own Victorious, its characters, etc.
1. The Pits

**Author's Note: **Hey everyone! Okay, so I might have fibbed about how long it was going to take to post the continuation of _Victorious: Later Days_... and I apologize for that. But stuff happens, and well, some things get pushed the back burner. But here it is! I'm really not sure about the title yet, which is why I haven't named it. I'm posting all of the chapters that I've written, also - which, including this one, makes nine. I want this to be kind of like real time, and that is why. So Chapter 10 will be set in Halloween, Chapter 11 will be around Thanksgiving, and so on and so forth. But before I get ahead of myself, and ahead of my own text, here it is! The continuation of _Victorious: Later Days_! **This first chapter contains a little bit of graphic explanations, so reader beware.** I do not own Victorious, its characters, etc. Enjoy!

**Tori's POV**

_Oh the joys of pregnancy._ NOT! I guess I was too young to understand the beautiful part of being pregnant. But I wasn't too young to understand that this is something I would probably never want to go through again. My back ached all day, every day. My once firm and flawless stomach was now a huge globe covered in jagged lines, known as stretch marks. My feet were swollen all the time, to the point where I couldn't even wear shoes and I was limited to flip flops and my fuzzy bunny slippers. I couldn't sleep comfortably because I slept on my stomach when I wasn't pregnant and now had to always sleep on my back or side. I ate way too much and kept down way too little – as in, I never got over morning sickness; sometimes I feared that even after the baby was born, I'd still throw up for no reason. My sense of fashion went out the window, and was reduced to wearing tent looking dresses. And with those dresses, I'd wear no underwear because I had to pee every fifteen minutes, it seemed, and I've had enough accidents for two lifetimes. I also wore like two sports bras over a regular bra, because although I enjoyed my breasts being bigger, they were full of milk – that leaked without warning. I had heartburn if I ate anything red or brown and got pretty bad gas if I had ice cream – and of course, ice cream was the thing I craved the most. And to top it all off, I found out a couple things that they don't teach you in school about having babies.

See, in school, they tell you: Boy and girl have sex. Boy ejaculates inside girl. Girl gets pregnant. And then they show a video of the birth. Then they show a clip of the mother breastfeeding and she looks the way she was before she got pregnant. ERRRR! Wrong! My belly is apparently going to look like I'm pregnant even after I give birth for some time. Oh yeah, and speaking of giving birth, if the baby doesn't fit, the doctors are going to cut my vagina some to make him or her fit through. And if something goes wrong, they're going to have to cut my stomach open and snatch my baby from the womb. WHILE I'M AWAKE. And after the baby's born, I'm going to have to give birth to something called a placenta. Now, I knew this, but up until a month ago, I had no clue what it looked like. They look like weird, giant, bloodied up jellyfish – but the insides are even worse. I was sitting in my birthing class I'm taking, watching the video, and the doctor decides to cut one open. Immediately I reached for the cup I was drinking out of and puked out my guts, which caused quite the chain reaction. One woman threw up also, and another one got so upset because I didn't think it was beautiful that her water broke.

So, yeah, maybe I wasn't grateful for the backaches and the barfing that pregnancy brought. I guess some women just take to pregnancy better than others. What I was grateful for, though, was the fact that even though Andre was across the country, he still supported me. He called me multiple times a day, just to hear me bitch and moan about how I look like a whale. He'd say, "Baby, you're not fat. You're pregnant. And you're the most beautiful pregnant woman in the world." And sometimes I thought to myself that he had some kind of fetish, because he'd always ask for me to show him my belly on our little webcam dates. I was so glad that, even though he could be with anyone, he stayed faithful to me. Because he loved me. And this baby. I couldn't ask for a better man to spend the rest of my life with.

I was also grateful for Trina. Boy, she was a lot of help. She went to work at around nine at night, didn't come home until five in the morning, and still managed to make sure I was comfortable. She basically took Andre's place as far as my neediness was concerned. At seven in the morning, I had cravings for peanut-butter swirl ice cream and tomato and rosemary omelets, and guess who made/got them for me? Trina did. And she also rubbed my feet when it hurt to walk, lifted my big ass up from the couch because I could barely lean up on my own, ran my bath water when I felt way too stressed, and she even got me a $200 bottle of cream that's supposed to help fade my stretch marks. It was times like those when I really regretted treating Trina bad in front of my friends, or period, actually. I could never repay her for it, because well, after seeing what I went through, she was totally for 'Team Sterilization,' not that she ever wanted kids to begin with. She'd rather have a puppy. She was the best sister in the world, and I couldn't imagine going through this pregnancy anywhere else but in our apartment…which wouldn't be ours for too long.

I was moving back home to LA. It hurt me to leave Trina, but I couldn't raise my baby in a house with someone who doesn't even like them. She had done enough for me, so I made the decision to leave so that she could go back to throwing wild parties and smoking pot and whatever else she did before I moved in. Besides, my parents wanted me to move back. Since my mom didn't work, she said that she would give me a hand in raising the baby, and since my dad had moved up from being a cop to being a detective, he said he didn't mind the extra mouth to feed until I could figure out my next move. I was clueless when it came to that. Working at the magazine, Muzix, was a dream – but I couldn't leave my baby behind just to have a career in the industry. I knew I had to swap band interviews for diaper changes, traveling to Vegas to see a performance for traveling to the pediatrician, and all the cute guys (it's okay to look!) for something bald and wiggly. I had until after my maternity leave to figure something out – because I had been working from home for the past week handing e-mails and inquiries and things like that. Boring desk and computer and phone stuff. I was back to doing what I started out doing when I first moved to San Francisco, only I was doing it in LA – although I can say I didn't hate being in my pajamas all day, unless I had a webcam interview with an artist, which was rare. Boss said that nobody was comfortable around a pregnant woman, not even on the Internet. She was right. How could someone be comfortable around me, when I wasn't comfortable myself?

"Tori? Are you up, sweetie?" I heard my mom ask outside my room door. I was back home. Back in my room. My parents didn't even touch it – it was exactly the same, but I couldn't say the same for Trina's room. My parents had surprised me and turned it into the nursery. The colors were mint green and pale yellow – neutral colors because I still didn't want to know the sex of my baby. I sighed when she tapped on my door. All I wanted to do these days was rest, but every five seconds someone came to bother me. Sometimes, I felt like I was in a dream. That I wasn't pregnant. And I could go back to living normally. Unfortunately, this wasn't true and it would never be true. I would never go back to living normally. A baby changes everything.

"I'm up, Mom. I'm just relaxing," I said. I must've woken the baby up, because not long after I called to my mom, I felt it moving around. I lifted my shirt and put my hands on my stomach. I ran them back and forth, gently. My mom walked in and smiled.

"Gonna miss him being in there?" she joked. She was totally convinced that it was a boy. That Andre had somehow broken some chain because all of my dad's family members had girls. There wasn't a boy in the bunch. Meaning almost all of my cousins were girls, which got quite annoying around the holidays. You know, all that estrogen in one place. She said the shape of my belly told her that it was a boy, too. I didn't understand that, because to me, all pregnant women including myself just looked like we had beach balls under our clothes.

"Yeah right. I can't wait for my stomach to go back to normal," I groaned, as I felt the baby kicking. "He's mad we woke him up," I grunted again before starting to rub my belly nice and easy.

"Oh? Let me feel!" And I did. Her eyes lit up with glee and happiness. I loved to see her like this, because it would always be with me…as well as that night we all found out I was pregnant and she wouldn't remove herself from the bathroom. She had gotten used to the idea of becoming a grandmother. Even if she was kind of young and 'good looking' as she likes to say. And we came up with a solution so she wouldn't feel so old. When the baby was old enough to talk, he'd call her Lolly and call my dad Pop. At least, that's what we wanted – it was up to him to decide, really. But we thought it was super cute.

"Sometimes I feel like you should be the one pregnant, Mom. You're always so happy about _my _pregnancy," I chuckled and nudged her.

"Well, after the eighteen hour labor I had to deal with having Trina and the breech birth I had to endure with you, I said 'no more,' although your father was sure if we tried for one more he would've had a son," she shrugged and walked over to the bed. She crawled into bed next to me, and sat upright. She reached her hand across my belly, bit her lip and tilted her head. "I can't feel anything."

"Here, right here. Press a little," I said, guiding her hand to right where I felt him kicking a bit earlier. Her eyes widened and I smiled. I looked down at her hand, and the baby was physically making it move just a teeny bit.

"Amazing, isn't it?" she said. "Tori," I could hear her voice starting to break. "I know we were hard on you and Andre, and I know that this baby is pretty much why we didn't want you having sex, but I can't tell you – and I'm speaking for your father, too – how happy we are. You and Andre are in love, and so what you're starting a family early. We love the both of you and we love this baby no matter what," she finished, sniffling. She took her hand off of my belly and wiped her eyes.

"Mom, c'mon, I'm already hormonal. Don't make me cry, too," I joked, fighting back tears with all of my might. If I would've told her how I felt, we would've been just a room full of sobbing. I knew that it was hard for my parents at first, and they were saints for taking me back with this baby. They were amazing parents for loving Andre and the idea of us becoming a family, no matter how quickly it happened. Or how it actually happened.

"Okay, baby. Well, I just wanted to see if you were okay and if you needed anything. Are you hungry? I could go get ingredients to make family potpie," she grinned before nudging me. I nodded.

"Mm, that sounds really good," I said, licking my lips. "You won't be long, right?"

"Right. I'll probably be back before you get up from your nap," she said, getting up. "Now you just rest, okay? And I'll have my cellphone in my hand the entire time I'm shopping just in case, okay?" she said, walking over to my side of the bed. She took the blanket that was at my feet and covered me up with it. I snuggled into my pillow some before she kissed me on the forehead. "Call me if you need anything. I love you and I'll see you soon," she said softly. She walked quietly from the bed to the door and I could already feel myself drifting off.

"Mom?" I said, sleepily.

"Yeah, hon?"

"If you and dad would've had a baby boy, what would you have named him?" I asked. She turned around and without skipping a beat answered me.

"His name would've been Antonio. Our kids: Trina, Tori and Tony," she smiled. "Anything else?"

"Nope. See you when you get back," I said, nuzzling into the pillows once again.

"Sleep tight," I heard her say before hearing my door shut.

"Tony Vega," I said to myself. "Antonio Harris…"

_It kind of had a ring to it. _


	2. Decisions

**Author's Note:** I do not own Victorious. Enjoy!

**Tori's POV**

_"If it's a boy, I think we should name him Antonio," I told Andre over the webcam._ It was date night, but it would have to be cut short because he had to study. He had finals next week and then he would be coming to spend the summer with me and our new baby. And it was then that he had to make up his mind about whether or not he should go back to New York to complete another semester at music school. I didn't want him to. I had this little picture of us in my head, looking like the perfect family. I knew that perfect didn't exist, though, because if it did I wouldn't even be pregnant. I waited for his response as I rubbed what was left of the $200 stretch-mark cream on my big belly, off camera.

"I like that name. But I still like Lyric. I mean, we both love music and I said if I ever had kids, I would love to give them musical names," I heard Andre say before I waddled back over to my desk that my laptop was on. Usually I'd have my laptop on my bed for our dates, but since I had gotten so huge, I really only liked him to see me from the neck up.

"Well, how about if it's a girl, you can pick the full name – but if it's a boy, I get to pick the first name, but his middle name can be Lyric. I think that's more than fair," I said and raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah alright, that's more than fair. You got yourself a deal," he said and reached out to pretend shake on it. I chuckled but it was cut short as the baby started kicking tremendously.

"Oof, either it's a boy and he's going to be a kick ass soccer player, or it's a girl and she's going to be a serious dancer," I said clutching my belly and wincing. "Or, vice versa."

"Oh baby's kicking? Let me see! I think it looks so cool that you can see it move around," Andre said and I sighed.

"Please don't do this, I'm fat and huge," I complained.

"Tori, how many times do we have to go over this? You're not fat, you're pregnant. You aren't going to be that way forever," he said and started to beg. "Pleeeeeease?"

"Okay, fine," I said and stood up. I lifted my shirt and just as I did, the baby stuck one of its limbs out for Andre to see.

"Oh wow! I saw that! That's so cool. It's like an alien or something," he laughed.

"Ooookay, okay, that's enough if you're going to say things like that. I already feel like a whale," I rolled my eyes and sat back down.

"C'mon Tori, you know I'm just kidding," he smiled and gave me puppy dog eyes. I smiled back.

"I know. So, have you made up your mind yet? About coming here for good after this semester is over?" I asked.

"I'm going to be honest with you, because I love you. But mostly because I know you'll see right through me anyway. I really want to stay here. At least for one more year that way I'll have two under my belt and I'll only need one more – which I can always go back and complete, but if I have two years of this music school on my resume, I can get some awesome jobs. I can support us. You won't have to do anything, but I need just one more year," he said and looked down at his keyboard.

"Okay," I simply said. I could feel chunks in my throat start to rise. I was pretty upset but I'm sure it was morning sickness, too.

"That's it? Just okay?" I heard him ask.

"Well, I mean, I can't expect you to drop everything just for me. Most girls would, but I understand where you're coming from. First of all, as much as I hate to talk about it – this isn't your baby. You know that and I know that and I guess that makes it easier for me to accept that you want to stay in New York. I can't expect you to leave your dreams behind for a baby that isn't even yours. And I know that when we are together, it won't matter – he or she will be your son or daughter. And I know that you'll love this baby no matter what. And you know what? That's enough for me. Even if you're a million miles away. At least you gave it some thought," I sighed, sinking low into my seat.

"Then why do you look so sad?" Andre asked, as if he really needed to ask. I couldn't help but tear up, looking up at the ceiling to avoid shedding tears.

"I just miss you," I simply said but I couldn't hold it back. I started to cry softly. Then harder. Until I couldn't even understand the words that were coming out of my own mouth. "This p-p-pregnancy has just been so-so hard without you. I go to the doctor, and al-almost all the women have their boy-oyfriends with them and their hus-husbands with them and I have to g-g-go with my mom or Tr-Trina," I managed to say before taking a deep breath in. "Sorry, the hormones…"

"Tori, I'm getting mixed signals here. You're okay with me being here, but you're not okay with me being here at the same time? Which is it? I'm willing to do anything for you. You're going to be my future wife, and I want nothing more than to make you happy," Andre said and there was an _awwwww _in the background. "Shut up, Dayzee!" he yelled facing away from the computer. I smiled a bit.

"Heh, what's Dayzee think about the baby? The engagement?" I asked. After all, she and Andre had become very close. He told me that she was like sister status.

"She was a little disappointed that you didn't wanna give her a try, of course," he sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose and shaking his head. "But she's happy. She wants to DJ at our wedding, whenever that is," he smiled at me and raised an eyebrow – I told him that I would come up with a date sooner than later, but never did.

"I know, I know, I'm just concentrating on getting this alien out of me," I chuckled, "and settled into our world."

"Hey, I thought you said not to refer to it as an alien…" Andre grumbled.

"Yeah, well, it's okay when I say it," I smiled back and stuck my tongue out.

_That's all I ever concentrated on these days, in fact._


	3. Andre Returns

**Author's Note:** This chapter contains a teeny bit of sexual content, so ya know, beware. I don't own Victorious. Enjoy!

**Tori's POV**

_Andre was finally in L.A._ My mom went to go pick him up from the airport as I got ready. Even if it felt so uncomfortable, I was determined to look good for him. No tent dresses and flip flops. No sweatpants and t-shirts. I managed to find a beautiful red dress; it was his favorite color on me, and some leopard print flats that had red bottoms on them. I wanted to wear something with heels so badly, but I was too afraid that I would trip and fall on my stomach. I bought a new lacy black bra, that hopefully would fit me fine even after the baby was born and underwear to match. Tonight was going to be so special! I hadn't seen Andre since Valentine's Day and my birthday, which was on the 19th of February. It was now May, and I was due in two weeks. So not only was it going to be special because it's my first time seeing him in months in person, but I was also going to have to get Andre to sleep with me.

I NEEDED to get this baby out of me – and apparently the contractions I have when I have an orgasm and some kind of chemical in semen bring on labor. I was desperate for it. So even though I knew he probably would think I looked disgusting, I needed him to do this for me. Besides, this would be like our only time to do it because my mom was going to stay at a hotel so that we could have the house, Trina was taking her vacation time to be here for the birth – but she was at a friend's, and my dad was out of town for work. This would basically be the only time we'd get to be alone, because even if I did live in my own place – the baby would be here soon. Nobody likes to have sex with a screaming baby around.

"Honey? I have someone who wants to see you," I heard my mom tap on the bathroom door. I just got finished curling my hair and finger-combing it out some to some make nice waves. When she said this, I felt so nervous and excited all at once. I wasn't sure if it was gas or butterflies that was making me tummy feel weird.

"How do I look?" I said and she just smiled. I could tell she was about to start tearing up, because she bit her lip before she started to talk.

"Oh Tori, you look beautiful. So radiant," she smiled as she slipped in the door, and stood behind me at the mirror. "You're so grown up now, honey," she said, her voice quivering a little bit. I turned around to face her.

"Mom, stop, you're going to make me mess up my makeup," I said, smiling.

"I'm sorry dear, it's just that in a few weeks the both of you are going to bring this beautiful baby into the world. You guys are no longer kids. It's tough for a parent. You'll see," she said before placing a hand on my belly, then jerked back some. "Oops! Haha, looks like someone's excited to see daddy."

"Yep, so I better get to him," I said, looking down. "My shoes match, right? It's so hard to tell with this boulder in the way," I chuckled.

"They sure do. You look amazing. Before you go, I left the number of the hotel I'm going to be at on the fridge, although you should be able to reach me on my cell. Trina's at her friend Lindsay's house, so I put Lindsay's number on the same paper as well in case you can't get through to Trina and –

"Mom, I'm going to be fine. The baby's not due for another couple of weeks. He's not going anywhere," I said, putting a hand on her shoulder. She took a deep breath in and exhaled.

"I know, it's just getting so close – and it doesn't always go exactly as planned," she started. "I mean, Trina was later than she should've been and you were almost a month early. That baby's going to come when _it's_ ready; the due date is just an estimate. There are no calendars in there," she smiled before patting my stomach.

"Well, I already have my hospital bag packed and Dr. Miller's number is on my number five speed dial on my phone," I said. "That make you feel better?"

"A little. Now, I'm keeping you, so I'm going to go now. You have fun, okay? I love you and I'll see you tomorrow," she said and gave me a hug and kiss.

I exited the bathroom not long after she left. I headed downstairs where I could hear Andre telling my mom goodbye before shutting the door. And there he was. Oh man, I was so nervous. I started to feel a little light headed but managed to make it to the living room alright.

"Andre?" I said timidly. He turned around with the biggest grin on his face.

"Tori!" he exclaimed and mad e his way over to me with his arms wide open. He hugged me as I nestled into his collarbones and it was as if time stood still. "You look incredible," he whispered to me, as our foreheads were now touching. He kissed me on the lips then on the forehead before stepping away. "Wow, just, wow. You look absolutely gorgeous."

"You really think so? Even though I have a-"

"A little bit of lipstick now smeared, thanks to me? Yes. Let me get that for you," he interrupted. Good man, he had done his homework. I felt fat in everything, so I guess he didn't even want to recognize the fact that I was pregnant Tori. I was just Tori – and to him, I was beautiful.

"Thanks Andre, you look great as well. I see you're still finding time to work out," I said. "I do just the opposite, ha. I eat, sleep, and that's about it. I've probably gained more than I should have with this pregnancy."

"Well, if you did, I don't notice it. You still have the sexiest slender legs, and those toned arms, and those cheekbones that models would kill for," he said. I could tell he wanted to keep things positive. "But, yeah, I work out about two hours a day – because well, to be honest, I miss sex. So, since I'm not having sex, I'm working out to keep my body busy," he said, before striking a pose and flexing his arm muscles.

"I miss it too, and…oh my lord, those are some hard muscles," I said as I squeezed his arm.

"Well, maybe we can, well, ya know," he said, raising his eyebrow suggestively.

"Ooh, you naughty boy, you," I blushed. I was so glad I didn't need to ask. "But like I said, all I do is eat – so let's do some of that before we do some of this," I said, reaching forward to grab his package. I cupped him in my hands and squeezed lightly. He groaned with pleasure and bit his lip, and I could almost immediately feel him hardening in my hand. I leaned forward to kiss him, never letting go.

"Daaaang girl," he said, before sucking air through his teeth. "See what you do to me?"

"I still got it," I smiled devilishly at him before taking his hand and leading him into the kitchen.

_I was so glad to have him back. _


	4. Memories

**Author's Note:** This chapter goes into a little bit of a (made up) history of Andre Harris. Like, how his family was when he was growing up, and basically explains why he lives with his grandmother - because I'm not really sure if that was covered in the show. I don't own Victorious. Enjoy!

**Andre's POV**

_I watched her sleep. _The most beautiful girl in the world, and she was all mine. I couldn't wait to make our love official. I wished every day that I could marry her now. Just so we could become the family I wish I had growing up. My parents fought all the time; about money, about cheating, about me. They got a divorce when I turned ten years old. My dad used to tell me that it was always my mother's fault, and I hated him for it, until I found out later on that it was.

See, my dad was in the music business which is part of the reason I want to go into it. He played the keyboard in this jazz band called Big Brown Bears. The band, even though they were really good, never got signed to a record deal. In fact, I don't think my father and his friends wanted it to begin with. He loved playing music. He loved doing it at his own freewill. He'd make decent money from playing in clubs, restaurants, and at parties and weddings, and that was enough for him. As long as he could support his family doing what he loved, he was happy. Being in this band meant he traveled a lot. Not even all that far, but maybe a city or state away from where we lived in New York. So, it wasn't like he would be gone for days and weeks. He'd be gone a day or two at the most, and return to New York to be with us.

My mother didn't like that my dad was always away. She was always accusing him of cheating on her, even though his band mates swore up and down that he didn't. He never had time to cheat, according to them. If she wasn't bothering him about that, she would be bothering him about me. He even came up to me and asked me if he wasn't spending enough time with me. I never agreed with my mom. Sure, I missed him when he was gone, but he was here five and even six days out of the week. It wasn't like he was gone for months at a time. I didn't mind. It was his job, and he was bringing in money for us. I never understood what my mom was so hurt for. Until she pretty much told me that she was sick of being my mother and tired of doing "everything" for us. Keep in mind that she had no job. My dad paid all the bills. My dad bought all the food. And if there was anything left over after getting stuff for me, he'd give her his remainder so she could go get her hair done and things like that. None of these things made her happy. And there was nothing my dad could do.

It was Halloween when I was nine years old when my father found out my mother was cheating on him. After all this time she was accusing him of being unfaithful, she was cheating on him. I can remember it like it was yesterday. I was just finished getting dressed to go trick-or-treating. My mom was going to a costume party at her friend's, and my dad was going to take me trick-or-treating in the neighborhood. My dad was dressed like a vampire, my mother was dressed up like a witch, and I was dressed up as a lion. The three of us, and this is my only recollection of us doing something together without them fighting, went around the neighborhood for almost an hour – my dad and I were pretty much walking my mom to the party. After my bag was full, and the makeup on my face started to wear down, my dad figured it was time to go home. Only, I wanted to see the haunted house that was supposed to be at the party that my mom was attending. After annoying my father for some time, he finally said yes and we went over there. The haunted house was so awesome. I saw Frankenstein, Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, and Freddy Krueger. I was ready to go home after all that excitement but I wanted to show my mom all the candy I had gotten. So we searched through the crowds of clowns and ghouls, until we found someone dressed like her in the kitchen, but she was kissing another man. At least I wished it was someone dressed like her.

My father called a cab, because I was so sleepy I was not able to walk the long way home – mom came with us, and as I slept in the car, I could hear the two of them whispering in the backseat. My father asked her if this was just a one-time thing, and she told him that she had been seeing the man for a couple months now. I could hear the heartbreak in my father's voice when he asked "How could you?" She couldn't give him an answer. The rest of the way home was dead silent. After that, things were weird at my house. My father didn't want to break up his family, so he gave her a second chance. A couple months later, one of his good friends told him that she saw her at a club, hanging all over some guy. When my mom said that he was just helping her into a cab, my father went to the club and asked the bartender about it. Apparently, she was "bragging that her husband was in a band, but her boyfriend was a doctor." And a month after that, my father filed for divorce. He said that when you didn't have trust in a relationship, that you couldn't have love. I applied that to my own feelings towards my mother – if she could lie to my father, then she would surely lie to me. I didn't want to live with her, and according to her, I was a burden anyway. So about two weeks after I turned ten, the divorce was final. My father, his band, and I went across the country with the money that he made selling all the nice things HE bought for my mom in the years they were together. He left her nothing but a house, but said he didn't care. After all, her "boyfriend" was a doctor.

We moved to California to stay with my grandma, just until my dad could find a job and get a place of his own. The music scene out in Cali was just as big as it was in New York, so it wasn't long before the Big Brown Bears booked a couple jobs. Life was back to normal, for the most part, and I loved living with my grandma. But I got to spend time with the band, too. In fact, they became like brothers to my dad, and uncles to me. I loved life with them – it was so much fun I could have probably had my own sitcom. I'd probably call it something like A Band and a Boy. But when I was thirteen, all of my fun came to a halt. It was about three months after I turned thirteen, that I got a call – expecting it to be from my dad, but it was from his band mate, Uncle Chris. He told me that my father had gotten in a very bad car accident, and that my grandma and I should come very quickly because it doesn't look good. And it wasn't. I got to spend one hour with my father before he passed away. But he left with me the wisest piece of advice: "Live life loving." I interpreted that as one should live life loving who they're with, live life loving what they do, and live life loving themselves. I live by those words every day now.

"Andre? You okay?" I heard Tori's sweet voice pop from out of nowhere.

"Oh! Hey, yeah, I'm fine, just thinking," I said, as she slowly turned over in the bed to face me. We were face to face now, on our sides.

"What are you thinking about? Round two?" she smiled before moving her hair out of her eyes. It was a little frizzy from the activities we had engaged in about an hour ago.

"Hah, I don't know if I can do that again," I said, leaning forward to kiss her on the forehead.

"Why? Because I'm such a big, fat, whale?" she frowned.

"Tori, I didn't say that. I don't think that at all. I'm just tired," I said. It was half true. I was kind of tired, but it was really just because I was thinking about my dad and family. How in a few weeks, I would have my own family. "I would love nothing more than to make love to you again, baby. But I just got a lot on my mind, okay?"

"I can understand that. I mean, we're going to be a family soon. And I know it's gotta hurt you when you have to go back to New York. Unless…" I watched a smile form on her face.

"Babe, we've been over this. I'm going back to school, and it's only for one more year. That's like four months, then I'll have semester break for about a month, then I go back for four more months and then I'm done. Mmkay? Then you can have me all to yourself," I said, bringing her in closer for an embrace. Her stomach was pressed up against mine, and I could feel the baby move around inside. "You can have me, too, little one," I said, scooting down to kiss her stomach.

"Okay. Yeah, that doesn't seem so long now that you break it down like that. Not to mention the holidays in between and all that," she smiled.

"Exactly. And we'll still chat online all the time, so it'll be like I wasn't even gone for long," I said, getting up out of her bed. I stretched before pulling my boxers back on. "I want ice cream; want me to get you anything?" I asked.

"Yeah actually, I could go for some ice cream. I want two scoops, one vanilla one chocolate, and some whipped cream. And you can slice up a banana too, and throw it in there," she started. "Oh, and I think we have some chocolate chip cookies. Maybe you can crush those up on top? I would get it myself, but I'm really pregnant," she laughed, before wincing at the moving baby in her stomach.

"Ha ha, okay. I'll try and remember all that," I smiled and leaned across the bed before kissing her. I left the room and headed for the kitchen. I started to assemble her ice cream. I scooped the ice cream, I squirted the whipped cream, I sliced up the banana…but I couldn't find the cookies. I walked to the bottom of the stairs and called up to her. "Hey Tori, where are the cookies?!"

"Ugh, I don't know, but this baby is hungry or something so you better hurry!" I heard her say loudly, before hearing her grunt a bit.

"Okay, well, you guys are going to have to do without the cookies then!"

"Call my mom!" I heard her yell back at me, only her voice sounded closer.

"Haha, I don't think your mom wants to be bothered this late about cookies, baby," I laughed as I walked over to the kitchen.

"No, Andre, my water just broke," she said, standing at the bottom of the stairs. She was clutching her belly and now standing in a small puddle of liquid.

_Oh shit, this was it._


	5. Birth!

**Author's Note:** It's time for Tori to have the baby! This chapter isn't too graphic, but if you're super sensitive to childbirth you might think so. I don't own Victorious. Enjoy!

**Andre's POV**

_To say that Tori was in pain, was an understatement._ I felt horrible that I couldn't take any of it away. I had to just sit there and watch and try to help her through it. She was a strong woman, no longer a girl right now. She didn't want any medicine to help ease the discomfort and I pretty much worshiped her for it. She had been in labor for the past four hours, and already looked exhausted. Her contractions were pretty close together, but she was not ready to push yet. Doctor Miller said that she was at five centimeters and she needed to be at ten to be completely dilated. Right now it was just Tori and I in the room; David and Holly went out into the waiting room to get some coffee.

"Tori?" I called to her. She was turned on her side, and I was sitting in the chair next to her rubbing her lower back. She said it helped ease the pain a lot.

"Hmm?" she simply said, before giving a long and deep sigh.

"I'm proud of you. I can't even imagine what you're going through right now," I said. Before I could continue, she cut me off.

"Picture this. Someone very large, standing on your balls with cleats," she said. She turned back over on her back and smiled at me. I sat back in my chair and cringed. "That's the equivalent of what I'm going through right now."

"Daaaang girl. Well, what I'm trying to say is that what you're doing, right now, is making me fall even more in love with you. You're such a powerful person, Tori. Like, I don't even have words that can actually describe how I feel," I said.

"I know, baby. What _you're _doing, right now, is making fall in love with you, all over again. I probably look horrible. And you could be one of those guys who are like 'ew, I don't wanna be in the room' but you're not. And this isn't even your baby," she told me, before clenching her eyes shut. "Ohhhhhh. Ooooooh. Mmmmmm."

"Do I need to get someone?" I asked. I felt like we were going to be here forever. She had to have been ready to push by now. She nodded and groaned again.

I jetted out into the hall, trying to cancel out all of the yelling and the moaning from the other rooms as I went down the hall. It was hard. There were so many women in labor right now. I felt a little uncomfortable. It could've been guilt. All guys had to do was come inside a woman and BAM. The baby would have to live inside the woman, which was tough enough, for nine months - before causing hours of pain just to come out. I reached the waiting room where David and Holly were chatting with a nurse, and Trina was curled up in two chairs she put together, asleep.

"What is it Andre?" David asked me, immediately after spotting me.

"Tori wants you guys in there," I said, before looking over at the nurse. "I think she might be ready to push, can you get Dr. Miller?"

"Trina, honey? Get up, we think it's time," Holly said, shaking Trina awake.

"Nooooo, I don't wanna go to school," Trina said in her sleep.

"Trina, wake up," David shouted towards her, startling another woman out of sleep.

"Huh? Wha...oh. Wait, why am I in the hospital?" Trina asked, wiping her eyes.

"Tori's in labor," I said and she shot up immediately.

The four of us pretty much ran into the room, as Tori was gripping the sides of the bed. I ran over to her, and grabbed her hand. She squeezed the life out of it.

"Oh God, that was a terrible one!" Tori whined, and rightfully so. "I just want to push it out, can't I push it out?"

"Well, baby, nobody in this room is a doctor," Holly said.

"I'm in so much pain right now, even all my bones hurt and I feel like throwing up."

"Here," Holly said, giving her a kidney shaped container. She sat up some and vomited inside of it, as I rubbed her back. David came and took it away when she was done and emptied it in the bathroom.

"Good to see you all again, I hear we're ready for this special delivery," Dr. Miller walked in. He sanitized his hands before putting some gloves on. He walked over to Tori. "Lift your knees for me, Tori," he said, and sat down on the stool in front of the bed. He reached his hands under her blanket and took a peek. He came up with a smile. "Well, who's staying for the show? It's time."

"What do you mean? We can't all stay here?" David asked, putting the barf container back on the table.

"Well, sir, because of the complications that MIGHT happen, if we have to get her out of here fast – or get something in here fast, we'd like it if there were only two people in the room with her. Not four. I'm sure you can understand," Dr. Miller said warmly.

"Yes, I do. After all, there used to be a time where just the husband was allowed," David smiled. "C'mon Trina, we'll wait together down the hall."

"Hey, you don't have to tell me twice. It's about to get really gross in here," Trina said, crossing her arms. She walked over to Tori who was wincing. She took her sister's hand and patted it. "You're going to do great, okay?"

I watched as the two sisters bonded. Tori started to let tears roll down her face. And I couldn't blame her, this was it. In a matter of minutes, the two of us would become three. I watched David kiss his daughter's sweaty face, he told her she was beautiful and that he loved her. I felt as if time sped up. Before I could even grasp how much love was in the room, I was at Tori's side, holding her leg up as she got ready to push.

"Okay, Tori, you're going to bear down like you have to poop," Mr. Miller smiled. He was dressed in a mask now, and had this shield thing on that prevented any liquids from hitting him in the face. There were two other nurses in the room; one ready to get the baby to the table to clean it off and weigh it. The other was down there with Dr. Miller. "Ready? Push! One, two, three, four, five. Okay, that's good. Really good," he smiled up at her.

Tori didn't scream or curse or anything. I pictured her saying that she hated all men because of what was happening. She fell back into the bed, panting. Holly came over by us, because she was watching at the bottom of the bed, and took a wet cloth and wiped Tori's face.

"I can't do this! I need drugs! Please, it hurts so bad!" Tori said to her mom, grabbing her arm as Holly was wiping her face.

"Baby, look at me. It's too late for an epidural. And you can do this. You will do this. Okay? You're already halfway there," Holly said, now holding Tori by the face. She kissed her cheek and headed back to view the birth.

"Tori? Mother knows best," he said. I bet he said stupid little things like that all the time. "You ready to push again?" he asked, as if she had a choice. "Ready? Push!"

Tori sat up and grunted this time. I could feel her leg tense up as she pushed with all of her might.

"C'mon baby, you're doing great!" I said.

"If I'm doing so great, why isn't the damned thing out of me?!" she shouted at me before collapsing in the bed once again.

"That's no way to talk about your baby, Tori," Holly said immediately. She walked back over to Tori's side and held her by the face once again. "Look at me, Tori. You can do this! If I didn't think you could, I wouldn't say so! You're tough and you're strong. Bring that baby into this world, okay?"

And with that little pep talk, Tori pushed once more as the doctor counted. "Tori, reach down, can you feel that?" Dr. Miller asked her.

"That's your baby's head," the nurse next to him chimed in. Tori's hand immediately flew back up.

"Oh that's so weird!" Tori panted. "I gotta push!"

"Andre, come switch places with me," Holly said. My heart nearly dropped out of my butt.

"No, it's okay," I simply said, and held on to Tori's leg a little tighter.

"No, you need to see this. You need to see your baby being born," she said, starting to walk towards me. I switched places with her.

"Young man, you're about to witness the miracle of life," the nurse near the table said to me. She winked and I just smiled – because if I didn't smile, I'd surely puke.

"Alright, one more push and the head will be out all the way, get closer, Andre," Dr. Miller instructed. "Push, Tori."

I watched as the small patch of hair that was the baby's head grow larger from inside of her. I could feel my hearing deafening. I could feel my skin get goosebumps. I was going to faint for sure. But I couldn't. This was Tori's moment and I had to be there for her. So as much as my body wanted to close my eyes and fall backwards, my heart and my brain fought against it. And before I knew it, all the sound came back in my ears and I heard the Dr. Miller.

"Ohhh, there we go! That's a boy for sure!" he said as they placed the baby onto Tori's, now towel covered stomach. The nurse pretty much attacked him with the mucus bulb.

"Oh my God! Hi there! Hi sweet baby! Oh little baby!" Tori's voice broke into pieces as the nurse rubbed the baby with one of the blankets. The baby started to let the world know that it had arrived. I watched as the pink, red and purple baby reached his arms up and wiggled his legs all around. I stepped closer and took it all in. My fiancé had just given birth to our baby. And even though he wasn't technically mine, I would protect him like he was. I would love him just like he was. I was already falling in love with him with every step closer. Soon, I cut him loose from his umbilical cord as Holly rubbed my back to soothe my shaking hand.

"Congratulations, Papa," Holly smiled at me. The nurse by the table took him to clean him off some and do whatever they did at the table. I made my way up to Tori and kissed her.

"You did it baby. He's here," I told her. Her hair was matted to her face from sweat and her breathing had calmed down. She nodded.

"It's a boy. Are you happy?" she asked.

"Of course I am, Tori. I'm extremely happy. I would be if he was a girl, too. A little boy! Oh man," I said, grinning from ear to ear. "As long as the baby was healthy, that's what really matters," I finished.

"Oh, and he is. He's perfect. Ten toes, ten fingers, and nine pounds and three ounces," the nurse said. I glanced at her nametag. It said Kelly.

"He is? His head, is it like a cone?" Tori smiled and sat up some to receive the baby.

"Nope. He has the nicest head, if I ever did see one," she smiled, gently placing the baby into Tori's arms. Tori immediately knew what to do. She held him as if she were guarding him from the entire world. Mother and son, together at last. He was crying a little bit, not screaming at the top of his lungs like earlier. His eyes were dewy with tears before he clenched them shut. His color was a bit more normal now, but he still had red splotches on his face. And the hat covering his nice round head, had dark locks sticking out from the bottom.

"He's got a lot of hair, I'm glad he's not bald," Tori looked up and smiled at me. I put my arm around her and brought her in for a kiss.

"Even if he was, he'd still be perfect," I said. And then I noticed that Holly was no longer in the room. Before I could ask where she was, she came walking in with Trina and David.

"Oh god, Tori! He's so precious. So beautiful. So, big!" Trina said, coming over to meet him.

"He's nine pounds, three ounces," Tori said. "You wanna hold him?"

"Oh, no. Not right now at least," Trina said timidly.

"Oh my, baby. He's just perfect," David said, placing a hand on Tori's shoulder before leaning down to kiss her on the head.

"Isn't he?" Kelly said. "The only thing missing now is a name," she smiled.

Tori thought about it. We had come up with a whole notebook full of names. She bit her lip and looked down at him and a smile spread across her face. She looked back up at Nurse Kelly.

"Antonio. His name is Antonio Lyric Vega," she said as the nurse jotted it down on his sheet. We had agreed that the baby would keep Tori's last name, and later on, be hyphenated with my last name when we got married. Tori's parents weren't too keen on the idea, but it wasn't their choice. Tori was just doing what was best for our baby. Even though I knew I would never leave her, and she swore she'd never leave me, it just felt more comfortable for his name to remain Vega. When hearing the name of our new son, Holly gasped and looked at David. He kissed his wife then he kissed Tori on the head once again. "Tony, for short," she grinned.

"I love you so much, baby," David told his daughter. She got choked up with tears and just nodded.

"I'm really sorry, but I have to take Tony now and Nurse Rebecca is going to come in and finish up with Tori, so she'll need some privacy," Kelly said, reaching for the baby. Tori handed him to David who looked as if he didn't want to let go. Then he handed him to Holly, who handed him to Kelly. "And I must say, usually parents aren't so accepting with teenagers as parents. I can feel the energy in this room," she said before looking down at Antonio. "And this baby is going to be so loved. Congratulations to you all," she said before putting him on his cart and exiting the room.

_She couldn't have been more right._


	6. After Birth

**Author's Note:** This chapter contains a flashback. Anytime you see (FB) or (FB#) that's the beginning of the flashback and it will be ended by (End FB). A lot of writers do their flashbacks in italics, but I don't like to because that's what I start and end each chapter with. This chapter just illustrates a typical day at the Vega household with the new baby. I don't own Victorious. Enjoy!

**Andre's POV**

_All I wanted was some decent shut eye._ When I came to LA, I knew that I would have to find a summer job. I didn't want to be like a loser father to Antonio and I didn't want to be a broke ass fiancé to Tori. So I got a job working as a receptionist at a tattoo parlor slash music store. It was a pretty cool job, the downstairs of the parlor was just that, a tattoo parlor with three booths for inking and another separate booth designated just for piercings and dermal implants. The upstairs was a small record store that sold primarily old vinyl records, used cassette and VCR tapes, and the like. It was a pretty cool set up, if I do say so myself. I looked forward to going to work the first week, but realized with a crying baby waking me up ten or twelve times a night, I couldn't enjoy it like I thought I would. What was supposed to be an awesome time to be with my fiancé and new baby was definitely the opposite.

Tori and I fought all the time and it had only been three weeks since Antonio was born. Even with help from Holly (David left the day after Tony was born to work on a case), it seemed like it was impossible for us to be the happy, new parents we both dreamed about. We fought over the stupidest things, too. Like, three days after Antonio came home, all I wanted to do was hold my son…

**(FB)  
**"Sit down, first," Tori said to me, holding our son in her arms. He was bundled up in the blanket that my grandma made for him. He was asleep and snoring gently.

"Tori, I don't need to sit down, I can hold him just fine standing up," I said back to her. Sometimes I felt like she thought I was stupid when it came to Antonio. I knew to support his head. I was new at this, but so was she. She looked at me and glared, holding the baby a little tighter. I sighed. "Okay, I'll sit," I said. I walked over from the kitchen to the couch in the living room and sat up straight. I held out my arms to receive the baby.

"Now remember to support his head. Or it'll just bob around and that's bad," she started to explain. This was her eleventh time telling me how to hold Tony and he had only been home for three days.

"I know, baby. You've told me this like, this morning. I got it," I said as she stepped closer to hand Tony to me.

"Well I'm telling you again," she huffed, "and he's not an IT, he's a he. He's your son, Andre."

"I didn't mean 'it' like that. I'm just saying I know how to hold a baby so you don't need to keep telling me. Especially because he is my son, of course I'm going to be extra careful," I told her, trying to stay calm. All I wanted to do was cuddle with him! While he wasn't screaming his head off, which was basically the only time I'd get to see him since I was looking for work these days – when he did most of his sleeping.

"Look, I'm not going to let you hold my baby if you're angry. So just drop the attitude," she snapped as quietly as possible.

"Tori. Please, just hand him here. I stayed home today so you could get some rest. I could be looking for jobs right now, but I'm not. I'm not mad or angry or anything. I just want you to get rest and I want to bond with our baby, okay?" I told her as sweet as possible. I ended up standing back up, moving close to her and our child. I leaned in for a kiss, and gently took Antonio from her.

"Okay, well, he should sleep for a good amount of time. So after you're done, will you come lay down with me?"

"Of course, babe. Just get some rest first, okay? Us guys are just going to hang out in here for a little while," I said, sitting down with Antonio, his eyes opening for a split second and then closing once again.

"Alright. Well, I'll see you in a little while. I love you," she said, walking around the couch. She leaned over the back and kissed me on the cheek, then kissed her finger and planted it on our baby's nose.

"I love you, too," I said. I waited a minute or two before I looked down at the sleeping baby. I lifted him up a bit and kissed him on the head. He was a gorgeous baby, and I loved him before he was even born, but it still hurt to know that he wasn't truly mine. I know that Tori and I would have our own baby down the road, and my fear was the he or she would look so different that the truth would come out. Both of us swore not to mention it to anyone, the only other person who knew was Trina. If our secret did come out, the only person I couldn't handle knowing was Beck. He would want to become a part of Antonio's life, and I just wouldn't let that happen. I know that this baby wouldn't be here because of what happened, but it was still painful to know that Tori had to go through that. I would protect her and Antonio from Beck until the day I died. "And I love you, kiddo," I said, leaning back into the couch and letting him lay down on my chest. **  
(End FB)**

It was a long day today. I overbooked some customers at the tattoo parlor on accident, I tripped over a stool knocking over one of the artists' ink bottles, I ordered the wrong sized needles for the piercer on site, and I didn't get to eat all day which made me even more cranky than if I didn't sleep. But the combination of both was almost lethal. All I wanted to do was take a nap. Even for just half an hour.

It was seven in the evening when I pulled up to Tori's house. I was driving her car, because I sold my car for money to pay for my second semester at music school, and what was left over was given to Tori and towards stuff for Antonio. As I got nearer and nearer towards the door, I could hear Antonio having a crying fit. Ugh, science and technology is so great these days, why couldn't someone come up with an interpreter for babies? Instead of crying for hours, we'd know what was wrong in minutes. I looked back at the car, boy how I wanted to just go back in it and lean my seat back and sleep a little. I looked around and noticed that Holly wasn't home so that probably meant that Tori hadn't had any help for a while. I sighed and turned back around before sticking the keys to her house in the door. I opened the door and the crying went from about a three to a twenty.

"Hey, babe!" I shouted over Antonio. She was pacing around in the kitchen, holding him and patting his back. Her eyes were red, her hair was a mess, and she was wearing the sweats that she had been in this morning. Still, she was beautiful. I dropped the keys on the table by the door and jogged over to her.

"Oh god, I'm so glad you're here Andre! He's been like this for like three hours! I don't know what to do!" she said, her voice starting to get choked up. I kissed her and took Antonio from her and cradled him, rocking him from side to side. His loud crying turned to raspy crying to the crying that kind of sounds like hiccups before it's all over.

"It's okay, shhhhhh," I said as the red faced baby looked at me, his lips quivering. "Let's give mommy a break, shall we?" I said and kissed him before walking away. I started to sing to him, walking up the stairs to the nursery. By the time I got there, he was falling asleep so I placed him in his crib. I came back downstairs where Tori was sitting at the kitchen table, her head down, and she was crying. "Tori?"

"I'm a bad mother. I don't even know how to tell what's wrong with my own baby!" she cried.

"Hey, I don't wanna hear that. You're a great mother. You're just new to this. I've taken care of cousins and nieces and other family members. I'm used to babies," I told her, now behind her rubbing her back. "I don't want to hear that, okay? You're just exhausted. You're here all day with him and it's okay if your patience wears thin sometimes. It's okay to be tired and upset, too, but I never want to hear you say you're a bad mom. You're great, and Antonio loves you," I said, leaning down to kiss her on the top of her head. "And I love you, too."

"I just get so frazzled when he starts crying. Like, I think everything in the world is wrong with him, but it's like when I do one thing he wants the other. I just finished feeding him before he went off, so I tried to burp him and he didn't burp and started crying. But he wanted to sleep. And like the other day, I thought he was hungry but he was wet and needed a new diaper instead. I feel so clueless," she sniffled. "If it wasn't for you, I don't think I would have ever figured it out. How the hell am I going to take care of him when you go back to college?" she asked, her voice breaking once again.

"Baby, you're going to do a great job," I started, before sitting down next to her. "He'll be almost four months when I go back, and he'll mature in that time. He's a newborn, this is what newborns do. They cry and throw fits and keep you guessing. But it'll be okay. You'll be okay," I said, reaching for her hands across the table. She took them and laced our fingers together. She gave a big sigh of relief.

"I'm sorry, Andre," she started.

"For what?"

"For being so high strung these past few weeks. I know that you were expecting something totally different when you came back this summer. I was too. I don't like that I'm like this. And I'm sorry for being so mean and arguing over everything. I'm going to try hard not to, okay?" she said, before leaning down and kissing my hand.

"Apology accepted. How about to make up for it, we go have a little time to ourselves," I raised an eyebrow.

"Andre," she giggled, "the doctor said that we had to wait six weeks. It's only been three."

"Tori, as hot as you look in those sweats, I was talking about getting some rest," I chuckled.

"Oh! Well, yeah, I suppose we can probably get in at least ten minutes before he wakes up," she shrugged.

"Ten minutes of sleep sounds so good right now, it's been a tough day," I said, standing up to stretch.

"Alright I'll meet you in the bedroom, I'm gonna take a quick shower. It's been a day or so and I feel super-duper funky," she laughed before getting up and heading out of the room. I thought about it, this was the perfect time to spend some time with Tori – and even though I was dog tired and all I wanted to do was sleep, I'd seize the opportunity to be with her alone finally. Because either we were working together to make Antonio stop crying, or Holly was around.

"You know what? I think I'll join you. I'll get the baby monitor and put it in the bathroom so you don't have to worry. It's been a while since we've had alone time, and I don't want to spend it sleeping," I said, and she stopped on the stairs and a big smile cruised across her face.

"Yeah? Okay," she said, "that sounds nice."

_And it did to me, too – despite my lack of sleep._


	7. One Month

**Author's Note:** This (rather short) chapter illustrates the interactions between David and Tori nowadays. All my readers know that during the end of Victorious: Later Days, they didn't speak with each other but finally made up on Christmas. I don't own Victorious. Enjoy!

**Tori's POV**

_A month goes by pretty fast when you're not on your own clock_. If it wasn't for my parents being so caring, I would've lost my sanity completely. But even with their help, I was still tired all the time. I never got to sleep longer than an hour at a time at night. After months of eating what I want, but puking, I was currently on a strict diet because of the peer pressure of breastfeeding. So it's been almost a year that I couldn't eat and enjoy my food for the most part. And speaking of peer pressure, my mother was trying to get me to see a therapist or shrink or whatever. She said that I had postpartum depression because sometimes, I would cry without reason. But I had a reason! I was tired! I didn't regret having Tony. I didn't hate him nor did I want to harm him. Sure sometimes I'd play around and say, "God, I wanna sew your mouth up" but I was just joking. I never bought into the whole postpartum depression. I always said that people control their actions and that the only feeling they couldn't control was love. So yeah, I walked around in a daze, and I was upset from being exhausted – but I certainly wasn't depressed.

I was currently feeding Tony, who was wrapped up in a blanket that Andre's grandmother knitted and sent to us. I was sitting in a chair that rocked and reclined in the nursery. It seemed to be the only place I could get him to nurse. If I wanted to watch television in the living room and feed him, he'd cry the whole time. If I wanted to lie down in my bed and feed him, he fussed and would turn his face away. I guess the nursery calmed him the most. I looked down at him and leaned back in the comfortable chair. These were the best moments so far; nice and quiet. They didn't last for long, but they were still special. I felt Tony start to squirm a bit with a small grunting noise, telling me he was full.

I detached him from my nipple, and pulled up my dress – I had been wearing tube dresses, which were so easy to just pull down and start feeding him. I changed his position, sitting up before sitting him up and holding a burp cloth over my hand, and I held his face in my covered hand, his tiny body leaning into my arm, while the other hand gently patted him. He wasn't a puker, which was good. He kept most of his milk down which Doctor Miller found astonishing. He was now ten pounds and a month old today. I heard a small tap on the door. Thinking it was Andre, I immediately answered.

"Come in," I said, but in walked my dad instead.

"Hi honey," he said. I looked up and he was shielding his eyes with one hand. Even though anytime I was feeding Tony, I had myself just about completely covered with a blanket.

"It's okay dad, I'm burping," I said and smiled when he gave a small sigh of relief.

"Hey, little guy," he said gently and leaned down to kiss his grandson on the head. He leaned up again and pulled something from behind his back. "I'm on my way out – work. I just wanted to give you this," he said, holding up a gift bag with soft pastel colors. Since my dad had been promoted to detective, he worked even more than he did as an on-call cop. What made it worse was that he was out of town a lot, so I couldn't always reach him if I wanted to. It kind of sucked, because ever since Christmas, we had gotten closer than ever before.

"Dad, you're going to have to stop bringing gifts home," I said, my smile growing a little wider when I heard a soft belch come from my son's mouth. My dad leaned over once again, and took the corner of the burp cloth and wiped Tony's mouth.

"I know, but I just wanted to get this. After all, he's a month old today," he said, putting the bag on the floor next to my chair. "May I?"

"Sure," I simply said and wrapped Tony up a little tighter in the soft, pastel green and white blanket before handing him to my dad. Once Tony was safely in his arms, I reached for the bag and leaned back into chair and started removing the tissue paper. "Let's see what Pop got for you, Tony," I said looking up at him, as my dad rocked him a little. His eyes were starting to roll and close as he got ready to sleep.

I pulled out a box. Inside was a pair of diamond earrings. They were beautiful. I looked up at my dad with a quizzical look on my face. He walked over to Tony's crib and placed him inside. He didn't stir or make any sounds, he just slept. My dad walked over to me.

"Those are for you, Tori. A month ago today, you made me so proud. I know that I was rough on you when I found out that you and Andre were…well, you know."

"Dad, you don't have to apologize anymore, we've cleared it up I thought," I told him, picking one of them up in awe. They were so beautiful – and they must have cost him a good amount.

"I'm not apologizing, Tori. I'm thanking you. Because of you, I can come home to this beautiful baby boy that is my grandson. It's just like when you girls were born. I thought about you night and day. Sometimes I worried, sometimes I was excited, but no matter what, I felt like a brand new person. I love Tony, and I just want you to know I'm willing to do what it takes to protect him, just like I'm willing to do what it takes to protect you," he said and ran his hand over my head.

"I love you, dad," I said, my voice breaking a little bit from trying not to cry. I put the earring back in the box, back in the bag and I stood up and wrapped my arms around my father and held on tight.

"I love you too, Tori," he said, his own voice holding back tears. "You and Tony both, so much," he sniffled. And I never wanted to let him go. I felt like a little girl again.

_If it wasn't for the crib in the room, anyway._


	8. Four Months

**Author's Note:** In this chapter, Tori runs into an old...friend. It's set when Tony is four months, just because I can only write so many chapters about how new parents interact (at least from my experience watching others), haha. I don't own Victorious. Enjoy!

**Tori's POV**

_It's September now, and that means my baby boy is a whole four months old now._ And THAT means he's been developing his own personality, which I might add is pretty cool. He doesn't cry much now – usually only when he's hungry or when he's trying to poop. He's finally sleeping all the way through the night, as well as taking two naps throughout the day. I met this one mother at one of his doctor's appointments and she jokingly, at least I think she was joking, asked if we could switch babies. That her baby was six months old and still isn't sleeping through the night, always throws her food up, and cries for every little noise she hears – even lullabies. Tony had gotten used to my singing, because I sang to him every chance I got. I wanted him to love music like both of his parents did. I wanted him to grow up with a passion for singing or creating music, so I figured I'd get an early start.

Anyways, back to his personality, I can tell that he's going to be kind of serious. He doesn't giggle a lot, not even when I tickle him. He'll just wiggle around uncomfortably and he might give a laugh or two, but that's it. I couldn't help but think that that side of him was from Beck. I've seen videos from when I was a baby and I was so happy go lucky, and I laughed at everything imaginable. I knew that his hair definitely came from Beck. My hair was thick, but just because there was plenty of it – the actual individual strands were pretty thin. But if there's one thing I can remember about Beck, it was his thick, dark hair. When I'd bounce Tony on my lap, his hair moved around like a damn Pantene commercial, my hair was definitely not like that when I was a baby.

Some days I would wonder about Beck. Where he was (because a new school year has started, meaning he's graduated…hopefully), what he was doing, and who he was hanging around with. I know that I should hate him with every fiber of my being, but I couldn't help to see the good in our horrible incident. I had this wonderful baby boy to wake up to every morning, because of what happened. In no way did I ever forgive Beck for the rape, but I can't help but think that I'm not even mad anymore. A lot of people take this kind of thing and let it take charge of their life, and that's okay. But it wasn't me to let the rape turn me into a whore, or an addict, or all the other things I've seen on television shows like "Intervention."

Sometimes I wondered about what would happen if Beck and I accidentally crossed paths, while I had Tony with me. I had this whole scenario that I would tell Beck that I was simply Tony's nanny or something. Or that Tony was my cousin's baby or something like that. He sure wouldn't know the truth because as soon as I moved back to LA, I pretty much quit using The Slap – and before, I never mentioned my pregnancy on The Slap at all. So nobody except for my parents, Trina, Robbie (Trina told him), Andre, his grandma, and Dayzee knew that I was pregnant. Hell, I'm not even sure if all of my family knew. And I wanted it to stay that way because it was nobody's business. In a way I was glad that my friends moved away. I was safe in my little box, but not for long.

It was time for me to get out of the house. I was in dire need of a job. Four months of not working was really getting to me. I didn't want to be a stay-at-home mother because that wasn't me. Sure, my dreams of becoming a pop star got put on the back burner for the moment, but who's to say that when Andre's in the picture I wouldn't pick it back up. He's been in back New York for about two weeks now, and I miss him dearly. I wish that the time we spent together went at least a little like how we planned. Instead, it was full of arguments and lacking in passion. After my doctor gave us the okay to start having sex again, it was like Andre didn't want to touch me. Like, he was afraid that _he_ might get me pregnant. It was probably because he watched the birth of Tony. I mean, I had seen births before and you know what? I couldn't blame him. It's kind of disturbing. But he never voiced why, and always said that he was tired. And when he would start something, Tony would start crying or something. It definitely made me feel like crap, as if I was unattractive now. The whole summer was just not what I wanted. I know I've said it before, babies change things. They change your body, your outlook on everything, and the way you live your life. But what I wasn't expecting, or maybe I just wanted a fairytale, was how it was changing the relationship between Andre and me.

Back to getting a job, my mother and father had supported Tony and me for a whole five months now (when I was nine months pregnant up to now). And every now and then, to feel like a responsible adult, I dipped into my savings, but my father didn't like me to. He said that he had no problem helping the two of us out, and told me to save the money that I had accumulated from working, for emergencies and possibly to start a college fund for Tony or use it for school myself. He wanted so badly for me to go to college, but to be honest; it was just never in my life plan. I wanted to graduate high school, work for Muzix so I could get my foot in the music business, and then work my way up to pop stardom and never look back. Of course, having a baby so soon was never in my life plan either. Things don't always work out the way you plan them and I'm living proof.

"Going out today, honey?" My mom asked, standing in the doorway of the nursery. I was currently dressing Tony in a green and blue striped Polo shirt that had a cute dinosaur on the side, a pair of dark washed jeans, and green Converse sneakers that Andre sent me last week.

"Yep, mommy's going to find a job today if it kills her, yes she will," I answered back, my baby voice directed towards my son who was trying to grab at my face. I lifted him off of the changing table. "He look alright?"

"It's kind of hot out, think he'll need those on?" she asked, pointing at his jeans.

"They're thinner than they look; besides you know how the temperature drops around here. It's three o' clock now. By the time we get back, he'll need those on. Here," I explained, handing Tony over to my mom who smiled and kissed him on the cheek when she received him.

"Something wrong, Tori?" she asked me as I was bending down to get some diapers to throw in his diaper bag. I stopped and looked up at her and smiled.

"Not a thing," I simply said and exhaled. I had to get it out. "Actually," I started to say, and stood up completely. I walked over to the rocking chair in the room and sat down. "I'm just ready to be on my own. I'm ready for Andre to finish up this last year so the baby and I can move out of here."

"But I thought you liked living here," my mom said sadly, and I saw her grip on my baby get a little tighter as he started to fuss around. I put my arms out to her so she would give him to me and unbuttoned the blouse I was wearing. He latched right on to my nipple and started to suck. I sat back and relaxed, pressing on my breast a bit to help with the milk flow. "Oh, want me to leave or…"

"It's okay, just hand that burp cloth here," I said. At this point my mom had seen my boobs. I mean, she saw my vagina the day Tony was born so breastfeeding in front of her wasn't really that big of a deal to me. "And I do like living here. I love it. And I appreciate all that you do for the two of us, but I'm nineteen now – and even though I have a baby, I'd like to be on my own. I don't wanna sound ungrateful, it's just that-"

"I get it Tori. You want to raise your baby in your own home, and you wanna do it with Andre, and you want to have a job or career and you want to have your privacy," she said. "It's just going to be so weird without you being here. This house will be so empty. Your father's always away and it's just me and I guess I like you being here because I don't feel so alone," I heard her voice start to break.

"Moooom. C'mon, don't do this. I'm not going to be moving out until Andre gets here, and even then we're not moving right off the bat. He has a whole semester to do before he comes back to LA. And plus, when I'm working, who do you think I'm gonna leave this little monster with? Ya know, if you let me..."

"Oh Tori, I would love nothing more than that!" she practically shouted and I felt Tony shake from being caught off guard. He let go of me and started to cry. "Whoops, sorry," mom said.

"It's okay, haha," I chuckled. "I'm just glad I got distracted before I started to cry, too. I did my makeup perfectly," I said loudly over Tony's crying.

Tony stopped crying a couple of minutes later, and after I changed his diaper, we were ready to head out the door. I was guilty for over packing things to take with me whenever I took Tony out with me, which was rare (except for doctor's appointments). So as I walked down the stairs, I juggled him, his diaper bag, two blankets, a few toys, and a separate bag that kept his bottles warm.

"You sure you don't want to leave him here?" my mom offered, as she was lying on the couch, holding her phone up texting. "I don't think taking a baby to a job interview is smart," she added.

"Mom, I'm just going to look for places that are hiring. I don't have an actual interview or anything," I said, trying to unlock the door. "A little help?"

"Sure! Sorry," she said, hopping off the couch and giggling at a text before putting her phone down.

"Who's that?" I nodded over towards the phone.

"Just Gary," she simply answered taking some of the stuff in her hands.

"You're always talking to that guy. I think you have a crush on him. After all, you did say he was handsome once before," I teased as I opened the door and stepped out.

"He's just a good friend! Don't say that, he's like a brother," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Well, you think your brother is handsome then," I smiled as we both walked to my car. I placed Tony inside his car seat, strapped him in, and put his diaper bag in the seat next to him.

"Oh hush, Tori, that's gross," she said, handing me the rest of Tony's things. "Good luck on your search."

"Thanks," I said, "We'll be back in a couple of hours. Love you."

"Love you too, sweetie. Love you, little booger bear!" she said loudly, tapping on the glass to the backseat.

I started my search at the mall. At this point, I was looking to do anything – except become a Diddly-Bop or something, because that's something I would never do again. Probably not even for Tony. Okay, maybe just for him, but not just any snot nosed little kid. So I applied to a few clothing stores, a fine jewelry store, and my favorite music and movie store. After about two hours of basically going from store to store in the mall, I decided to stop on the way out to a salon that was attached to the mall. I didn't care if they just had me doing simple things like shampooing clients or passing out champagne. In the back of my mind, I thought about going into hair and makeup – but I loved singing too much. I pushed the stroller into the salon and walked right up to the front desk.

"Who are you here to see?" the man asked me.

"Well, I was just wondering if you guys were hiring. I mean, I didn't see a sign, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask," I said nervously.

"Well, you're in luck," he started, and leaned over the receptionist desk to get closer, "I'm quitting in like two days. I cannot stand the new girl who works here. She's a great hairstylist, but she's a major bitch," he said quietly, before looking down at Tony who was looking right back at him. "Sorry for the language, kiddo," he said before smiling.

"Hah, it's okay. Well, then I guess maybe I'll work somewhere else and-"

"No no, here, I'll get you an application. Watch, it'll be just like pulling teeth with this girl," he said, holding his finger up to me. "Hey West! Can you go to the office and get me an application? We're out up here!"

"I guess! If I really have to," I heard the girl say. I figured it was going to be a guy, West being short for Wesley or something. She had the paper held up close to her face as she walked, in an uncaring fashion, up to the receptionist desk. "Here ya go, you're just lucky I was in a good mood. What kind of stupid questions are these? Who cares if someone reads Vogue? If they went to beauty school, that's all that should – holy shit," I heard the girl say. And as she drew nearer and nearer her voice became more familiar. I was tending to Tony, when I looked up and locked eyes with who was standing in front of me.

"Well, lookie what we got here. Hey, Vega, long time, no see."

_I immediately felt sick to my stomach._


	9. Change

Author's Note: I don't own Victorious and I have nothing to do with Bradley Cooper or Versace, obviously. Enjoy!

**Tori's POV**

_There she was._ Jade West in all of her bitchy and dark and evil glory. I can honestly say that I didn't miss her that much. Sure, we interacted civilly sometimes when all of us still went to Hollywood Arts, and even afterwards. Hell, she was the one who bought me condoms at Beck's huge party last summer so that I could have sex with Andre. But more than eighty percent of the time, Jade West was mean. Mean to me, out of all the girls in the school we went to, the parties we attended, the plays we starred in together and so on. But I guess I could be a little nice, if not to set a good example for my son. Oh shit, my son. I could hear Jade now. Calling me a slut or insinuating that I got pregnant on purpose so Andre would have to be tied to me forever. Anything to make me feel like shit in this public place. My thoughts were interrupted by the receptionist's voice.

"Oh, you two know each other?" He asked, handing me the application then sitting down in his leather chair.

"That we do, Justyn. How about you go take a break, I'll man the front desk, so that the two of us can have a little girl talk?" She grinned, turning to him and waving him off.

"You don't gotta tell me twice, honey. You two play nice, we have clients," he said hopping out of his chair. He went to walk away before Jade called to him.

"Justyn, do me a favor?" she said sweetly.

"What's that?" he asked of her.

"Don't ever call me honey, okay?" she said, her sweet voice turning into that of a witch's within seconds. She turned back to me and a smile creeped across her face. She looked at me, then at the stroller, then back at me. I could feel the anxiety running through my veins. My heart was beating so fast. I just wish she would hurry up and say something, because trying to guess what was in her head was worse than what she could possibly say.

"You look different," I spoke up breaking the silence. And she did. Her hair was no longer black, wavy and long. It didn't have a rainbow color in it. It was quite normal looking. It was a beautiful and rich brown. It was cut shorter than the hair she used to have, stopping right before her collarbones and flipping inward. It framed her face so amazingly, that if she weren't such a bitch and she was the one who did it, I'd actually consider getting my hair done this moment by her. Recently, I've definitely been playing out the top knot.

"Yeah well, things change, including hair. And speaking of change, what's that?" she pointed at the stroller. My heart palpitated, and obviously not in a good way. What would I say? Would I be honest? Of course I would, because she would find out eventually that he was my baby.

"That is a _HE_, and his name is Antonio, but we call him Tony," I simply said, placing the application on the desk, before leaning over and lifting him out of the stroller. "He's, well, like you said, things change. So do families. He's my son."

"Whoa. I was waiting to hear that he was your cousin or your neighbor's kid, or even that you were a nanny because let's face it, we all knew you'd never make it as a singer," she said with a half-smile. I just rolled my eyes.

"Well, it doesn't matter now. Tony's my number one priority nowadays, and he likes my singing just fine," I said, bringing him closer to me, kissing him on the head. I watched Jade's eyes get a little wider and curious as I cradled my baby and a smile grew across my face. "You wanna hold him?"

"Uh, no. I already hate getting my clothes dirty with hair product, I'd probably freak the fuck out if it puked on me," she said, taking a step back. "Plus, I can't remember the last time I held a baby. I'll probably drop the damned thing."

"_HE _is not a thing, Jade. And _HE_ hardly ever spits up. And it's not like he's a new baby, he's four months old. He can hold his own head up and everything. Here," I said, coming around the desk to show her how to hold him. "Just take him from under his armpits, and prop his butt up with that arm and just hold him," I conducted. I left my hand on his back but slowly took it off. "Put your hand on his back and, yeah, just like that," I smiled. She looked mega uncomfortable but at the same time, there was something in her eyes that made me think that she liked it. "Good."

"Wow. I can't believe you trust me with your son," she smiled and bounced him a little.

"Well, I noticed that your scissors aren't in your apron so," I smiled back at her. I watched Tony reach up to touch her hair, then stare her in the eyes with those big brown eyes that he has. She looked down at him.

"Hey little guy, you're kinda cute," she said and he cooed. "Oh god what the hell was that noise? He's gonna barf. Come get him," she said nervously.

"He's not gonna barf, he's fine. He hardly ever spat up as a little baby. And he doesn't really cry either, he's pretty chill. I'm lucky," I said, folding up the application to put in my bag.

"So do you really need a job? Because the buzz is that Justyn is quitting soon. Apparently, I'm a horrible boss," she said and shrugged.

"Boss? He told me you were the new girl," I asked.

"Pfft, no. I didn't work my ass off at cosmetic and hairstyling school in Florida just to come back here and be, uh, 'the new girl,' I'm basically second in command," she said. "Justyn is a pathological liar. He says he made out with Bradley Cooper and was the star model in a Versace fashion show for Christ sake. I've been back in LA, working here, for like three months now, he's been working here for three weeks," she said shaking her head and patting Tony on his back.

"Oh, wow. Well, good for you," I said. And I meant it, but it was a little discouraging. Andre was in New York making his dream come true. Robbie was in France living his dream. Trina was doing what she loved to do and getting paid for it. I wasn't so sure about Cat, but even Jade had become a practically overnight success. And here I was, living at home with my mom and dad, living off of their money, with a baby. Not at all living my dream, but I can't say it was a nightmare either. I snapped out of it when Jade snapped her fingers in my face.

"Hey! So, do you?"

"Do I what?" I chimed back quickly.

"Do you need this job?" she asked once again. What the hell happened over the course of a year and some months?

"Yeah, I do. I really need to start saving up money so that when Andre moves back here from New York, we can get our own place and start raising Tony together without my parents around all the time," I said.

"What? He's still in New York? Why the hell isn't he here taking care of his kid? That's not right, not even for you," she said. Was she actually sticking up for me? I didn't know what to say. I obviously couldn't tell her that Tony was Beck's child. First of all, she'd probably laugh at me in disbelief. And secondly, if she did believe me she would hate my guts because that would've meant that I slept with her ex-boyfriend. Then she'd find out about the rape, and my life would be even messier than it is now.

"It's okay. I live with my parents and they love having Tony and me living there. They help me out like way more than most parents would. It was my idea for Andre to stay in New York. I mean, it isn't like he doesn't help out. He sends me money and things for Tony every week," I said, trying to defend myself, or more so, defend Andre.

"Yeah, well, that's basically what my dad did with me and you can see how awesome I turned out," she said, rolling her eyes. I forgot that she had problems with her dad. He never approved of anything she did and was always away on business and substituted money for love. She sighed before continuing. "Anyways, you're hired, but you still gotta fill out that application so we can have it on file. Let's meet for coffee tomorrow and we can talk more about it," she said, moving closer to hand Tony back to me. I scooped him up from her. She wrote down her number on the back of a business card and handed it to me.

"Okay, thanks so much, Jade. Like, I don't even know what to say. I have to ask," I started, slipping the small paper in my bag.

"What? Make it quick, Justyn's coming back and he's a nosey little wazz-cake," she said.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" I asked, putting Tony back in the stroller.

"Like I said, things change," she said, "see you tomorrow."

_Wasn't that the truth._


End file.
